ABSTRACT
The lexical meaning of forsoning and soning, from the Old Danish sone,1 includes atonement, expiation, propitiation, and reconciliation. In the Danish usage of Kierkegaard’s era, both of these words were employed to refer to the removal of impediments to fellowship with God through the sacrificial rituals of the Old Testament, and to refer to the work of Christ in making possible a new saving relation to God.2 Often the terms indicated the paying of the penalty for sin. To suggest reconciliation with God more broadly, without the nuance of an atoning sacrifice, Kierkegaard usually used Forligelse, which connoted an amicable settlement.
